An "aha" moment...
Our morning reading of Dharma produced yet another moment of awakening....
Venerable Ayya Tathaaloka, a fully ordained Theravada Bhikkuni, has inspired with her writing in the latest addition of Buddhadharma.
She said,
"I think what enlightenment looks like depends upon who is looking and how they're looking.
I see a lot of people suffering due to confusion about the stages of enlightenment.
I think of enlightenment more in terms of what is absent: obsession, grasping, aversion, resentment, fear, doubt, discontent. Once we learn to let go of these, all of the energy that goes into running these things,
is then free, present and liberated."
This for us was an "aha" moment.
The goal for a majority of practitioners, we believe, is to become a better person, more relaxed, and to be rid of worries by meditating. Maybe to look for a way to help cope with stress in general.
Venerable Ayya tells us that;
"it's easy to assume an awakening is not real if all of ones problems are not gone, there will be disappointment and even a loss of faith."
As Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche says;
"Once we get a glimpse of the nature of mind, we have a sense of awakening that actually becomes a part of our mind.
It's no longer just a theory;
it becomes a reality,
an experience."
Thank you both for your insights, Our morning Dharma is worth every second we invested.....
Nathan
